


Love in Space

by Phonejoker



Category: Prometheus (2012), X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Android!Erik, F/M, M/M, Prometheus AU, Scientist!Charles, Spoilers for Prometheus, no powers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-09-02
Updated: 2012-11-04
Packaged: 2017-11-13 09:36:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/502066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phonejoker/pseuds/Phonejoker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>10 years after the launch of the Prometheus, the Orpheus is on its way to LV-223 under the hand of Sebastian Shaw, closest confidant to Weyland and heir of the company. The mission is officially disguised as a recce mission to find out what happened to the Prometheus.<br/>Accompanying him are the newest android model David10, aka Erik, the highly enthusiastic scientist, Professor Charles Xavier, and their crew.<br/>Everything seems to run smoothly until the crew is awakened two months too early from cryostasis  and the android and the scientist are on the edge of discovering a truth that lets their whole view of the world crumble and brings them closer to each other than any of them thought.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: A new Name

When David10 – 518911 opened his eyes for the first time all he could see was astonishing blue.

Although his vision was slightly blurred, his mind automatically started processing the incoming data,  
comparing the blue to what was saved on his hard drive,  
yet the only thing it could be compared to were the feathers of an ice bird, shining and bright.  
Then his eyes started functioning properly, focusing and the blue started to move and was gone,  
replaced by the smiling red mouth of a human male.  
“I think he is awake now.” The face belonging to the mouth moved away further from him,  
slowly stepping back, yet never taking his eyes of David10 – 518911.  
“Oh please, Xavier-“ an unpleasantly sweet female voice snarled  
“-we both know that androids can neither be awake nor sleep, you simply switched him on.”

Davids human- interacting processor analyzed the badly-  
hidden disgust in her voice and he decided that it was best not to address her but instead the young male with the ice bird-eyes,  
who was now standing several meters away from him, his arm put around a blond females hip. 

He decided not to move out of the huge box that he found himself in,  
as he was naked except for numerous white polystyrene balls that covered most of his legs and abdomen.  
His memory told him that nakedness was most awkward to humans and sometimes made them angry,  
which stood in contrast to the fact that all humans were born naked.

He turned his gaze upwards fixing the ice blue stare of the man in front of him.

“Hello, I’m David10 – 518911. It’s a pleasure to meet you. May I ask for your name, Sir?”

At being addressed as “Sir”, the man looked slightly taken aback.  
Then a smile resettled over his pale features and he stepped forward, his hand reaching out to grab Davids, which was still hidden under a mountain of polystyrene balls. David slowly extended his hand to him and gently said:” I am most pleased to make your acquaintance, Sir.” His hand was being shaken enthusiastically by the man.  
“Oh, by the way, my name is Xavier. Charles Xavier, but please, do refer to me as Charles. I have been looking forward so much to finally meeting a David 10.” His joy was genuine, Davids receptors analyzed.  
The first lesson about humans, that David learned this very moment as he looked past Charles warmly smiling face, was that not all of them seemed to share his interest in Robots.

There was a tall man in a science lab coat, slightly awkwardly standing to the side, obviously thinking about following Xaviers example or just running away as fast from David as possible.  
Next to him, the young blond woman that Charles had hugged, examined him looking almost shy with her big blue eyes.   
To lessen her possible fear and make her feel more comfortable, David focused on showing a mix of curiosity and joy on his face and fixed his gaze on her.  
Charles noticed it, released Davids hand and stepped back, dragging the young girl with him, his arm around her hip. 

“This is Raven, my sister.” He introduced her. David leaned forward as much as the polystyrene balls allowed him to and smiled. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Raven.” He put the most gentle tone possible into his voice extending his hand slightly for Raven to grab it. She did and managed a soft little nod of appreciation in his direction before stepping back as though contact with him could hurt her.  
A striking thought crossed Davids mind. None of the humans had given him any orders yet. Or clothes. This meant that his true master was either not in the room or hadn’t chosen to reveal himself. Could it be the disgusted looking blond woman in the white dress and the knee-high boots? David chose to address this question to Charles, who appeared the most communicative of all humans.  
“Charles, if you don’t mind me asking, I would like to know who of you is my true master.” At the confused look on the humans face he continued. “I would like to know who of you has bought me and whose orders I should take.”

Charles was just about to speak when a voice rose from the corner of the small room. A man leaning casually against a wall.  
“That would be me, then.”  
Everyone turned around facing the man, who, his main memory told him, was no lesser than Dr. Sebastian Shaw.  
Hard- working scientist, inventor of the David9 and David10 after Weyland had disappeared and ,most important, primary owner of every single David10 that had been released yet. Sebastian Shaw had taken over Weyland industries as there were no living descendants of the old man and Shaw had been deputy head of the company. His word, to David, was law, was guide, was order.  
Shaw slowly approached David, yet his cold gaze rested on Charles.“I don’t think I need to explain my authority here…right, Professor?” 

The statement was warning and criticism all the same and it brought up a question in David that he should have asked himself earlier.  
Where was “here”?

He was standing in a box stuffed with polystyrene balls and if he stepped out of it he would be standing naked in a small room with no furniture whatsoever, metal walls and a heavy looking metal door. David assumed his owner would provide him with the necessary information.  
Shaw now stood very close to David, his breath almost reaching Davids facial skin sensors. “I really did create a living superior to humans.” He words were mumbled, not audible for anyone except him and the Doctor. “You and I David, we are something special. Creator and creation. One day you will understand my words, but for now bear in mind that I developed you to stand above all other humans.”  
After his little speech he suddenly spun around to the others and David caught Charles concerned gaze.  
Sebastian Shaw threw his hand in the air holding them with spread fingers above his head and shouted:” My dear friends and colleagues, welcome on board the Orpheus. The chosen ship to save the missing Prometheus and their crew from a planet two years away from earth. I have personally chosen the most renowned and well-respected scientists to accompany me on this exciting mission, explore the other planet, save the crew of the Prometheus and bring them safely back home.” He exchanged a look with the woman dressed solely in white.” That’s all there is to it.”  
Silence spread across the room as the last of his owners words echoed of the walls and David wondered whether the mission was not only explained to him, but also to the other crewmembers. The look on Charles face clearly indicated that he did hear those words for the first time.  
Shaw looked content and continued. ”Of course we can’t spend two important years of our lives brooding onboard this ship accomplishing nothing. Therefore I have convinced the scientists of Weyland to construct a new era of androids, specifically designed for long missions in space.”  
Shaw proudly patted Davids shoulder. His hand felt rough and cold.  
“He can pick up any language effortlessly in seconds. Even those not known to humans.” David briefly wondered why he would need to speak a language not known to humans if this was a rescue mission, but then who was he to question his master.  
Shaw continued. “He will also guard our bodys while they are in cryosleep, keep the ship in order and make sure that we don’t stray off course.” He patted his shoulder once more whispering: “I have left you personalized encoded video messages on a server that can only be accessed by your identification number. One for every week on the ship. Watch them and you will understand.” , then turned towards the woman dressed in white.  
“Please Emma, be so kind to fetch our dear David something to wear, will you? Oh, and get that woman, what was her name again-?” “-Moira.” Charles suggested dryly.  
Shaw made a dismissive gesture with his hand. “Yeah get Moira to instruct David to maneuver the ship.”  
Just as Shaw was about to leave the room, Charles grabbed his elbow. Shaw turned around and David suggested that the action had annoyed him, because he had a little wrinkle between his eyebrows.  
“Dr Shaw, I was wondering if we could address David with a name other than David.”  
Shaw looked taken aback. “Why should we, it was the name that Weyland suggested. It fits him perfectly.” He turned away, but Charles tightened his grip on Shaws elbow.  
“I think as he is very important to the mission, we should give him a proper name. Something to differentiate him from the 3 million other Davids out there.” He lowered his voice, but David could understand him perfectly anyway. “I think he is something special. I- I think he deserves to be different.”  
Shaw still seemed unconvinced, but to Davids surprise nodded slowly and walked away without giving Charles another look.  
A smile set the Professors features alive yet again. Out of all the crewmembers he was the easiest to read, yet his decisions were the most difficult to understand. David did not know whether it was common for humans to be as unbiased and open to everything they didn’t know. His knowledge of the history of humanity showed him that it was not.  
Charles Xavier stood in front of Davids box, his finger lightly brushing the markings inside the box that said “David10 – 518911”. His sister had stepped behind him.  
Charles looked as if in thought.  
Then his face lit up and David thought he was back to the beginning of his memory when Charles had hovered over him with that smile on his lips.  
“Erik.” He said simply. “We’ll call him Erik.”  
“What the hell, why Erik? That name is ancient, just like yours, Charles.” Raven looked confused.  
“Look at his serial number.” Charles traced the marking with his finger. “It says 518911- 5 for E, 18 for R, 9 for I and 11 for K.”  
Erik wondered how he could have a superior mind and still fail to take this opportunity to consideration. Was it imagination that he lacked?  
Erik tried to reciprocate Charles smile of genuine happiness.  
“Thank you, Charles Xavier.” He said. “Erik, what a beautiful name.”


	2. The 98th message

“One Year, Ten Months and Two Days” the readout- screen said.

Two more months and they had reached their destination. 

Erik pressed a button on a control panel and the screen went black.  
If there had been humans around him, Erik wouldn’t have known which emotion to show them at this very moment. 

Excitement of finally being able to fulfill his real task, helping the Prometheus crew on the foreign planet.  
Definitely curiosity.  
And maybe even a little bit of sadness.  
Erik knew he did not feel the emotions himself, yet he had been programmed to show them up to the tiniest detail. 

It struck his mind that the only thing his great and complex system could never accomplish, his intelligence never understand, was human emotion. 

He often remembered Charles Xaviers genuine smile when wondering about emotion.  
When putting the human to sleep in his cryopot, his face had shown sadness at the loss of his intelligent, friendly company.  
Two more months.  
While his thoughts were tangled around the topic of emotion in his mind, Erik had stood still like only androids could do.  
His inspection round to check if the ship had suffered any damage was done and his duties were finished.  
He had enough off-duty time to watch the 98th video message his master had left for him, as well as a few of the other movies in the ships data storage.  
He took great joy in training his facial muscles and watching movies in which humans showed every emotion possible until he could mirror them up to the last detail.

Walking towards the small movies room, in which Erik spent most of his free time, he wondered about the contents of Sebastian Shaws video message.

All of them featured Sebastian in front of a white wall, nothing indicating where the messages had been recorded, and most of them lasted about 5 minutes.  
5 Minutes of Sebastian constantly complaining about the inferiority of the human race, how he and Erik were meant to be something better than most humans, how Erik was supposed to rule humans instead of serving them. 

Of course his master was human himself, yet Erik had never questioned his words, as human history simply showed too many examples of human stupidity.  
Shaw had every right to hate them and Erik, too.  
In the first few messages especially, Shaw had provided him with data of violence against robots and androids.  
In fact, there was a whole anti-android movement trying to destroy Weylands factories, buying androids only to harm them.  
Thinking of it never failed to activate Eriks tear glands and he felt wetness on his cheeks…unnecessary violence. There was destruction, violence and hate among the humans.  
And yet there was hope.  
Something Shaw failed to see in the human race.

There was Emma Frost, the unpleasant woman who kept staring at him like he was mud but on the other hand there was Charles Xavier with his open smile and a friendly word on his tongue - for everyone, even Erik.  
Although most humans treated androids like servants, Charles had asked him for advice hours before their departure from earth. 

And he had given him his name.Thought Erik deserved to be special even though he had hardly known him.  
Erik liked to think that there were more humans out there like Charles, however the data proved otherwise. 

He shut the door to the movie room silently and seated himself onto the small couch that was provided for comfortable watching.  
A list of movies to watch appeared, as Erik switched the screen in front of him on by pressing a few buttons that were embedded in the armrest of the couch.  
To get to the personalized weekly message he had to enter his personal code 518911 into the keypad on the couch.

As soon as the first seconds of the video flickered above the screen, Erik noticed that something was different.  
Usually Shaw stood right in the middle of the picture.  
Also he looked much younger than in any of the previous recordings.  
Therefore Erik assumed that it had not been recorded at the same time as the others and his owner had simply thought of it as fitting.  
Shaw now stood on the left side, smiling his usual cold, detached smile down on an old, sick looking man.

Weyland, his memory told him.  
Farther of the androids and inventor of the David series.

Erik had never seen him on video before, partly because he had not shown any interest in doing so, partly because there were hardly any recordings of Mr. Weyland available. The information on Weylands state of health was rare, but Erik could see the unusual whiteness in his eyes, indicating eye cataract, the way he could hardly hold himself upright, obviously too proud to sit while his deputy was standing.  
He had been close to a hundred years old, when he had disappeared about the same time as the launching of the Prometheus. 

His memory provided theories on his disappearance, not few arguing that he had been on board the Prometheus.  
Erik questioned this statement, as it would make no sense to bring an old and possibly deathly sick man on board of a mission across space to find extraterrestrial organisms.  
Erik wondered when the messages had been recorded and saved the question in his mind to address to his master when he woke from cryostasis.  
Weyland was the first to speak, his voice sounding shakily and possibly not audible for human ears, as it was too faint. 

“David8, as the highest developed and technologically, physically and mentally most advanced android ever built by Weyland Industries it is now my purpose to show you your true duty on this ship.”  
The message had been addressed to another robot on another ship, could it be that it had been addressed to the David8 on the Prometheus?  
Why would Shaw show it to him, then?

“I herewith set all my trust on you and put my life into your hands. David, I want you to follow the orders you have been given by Meredith Vickers, your sister, to attend to your duties on board the ship and yet you will also help to keep my presence on board a secret. I will join the Prometheus on their long way through the galaxy, and I will meet the engineers and learn from them the key to an unlimited lifespan.” 

How could Erik have possibly been wrong in his assumption that Weyland had unlikely been aboard the Prometheus.  
He was never wrong on anything.  
He could calculate Pi for longer than the 10000th number.  
Now it all made perfect sense to him.  
Weylands sudden disappearance.His deathly pale skin.  
He had been sick, possibly with cancer and wanted to try and fool humanities most horrible opponent…death itself by getting to know … the engineers?

How very human of him to think he could trick death and fleeing himself into the hopeless dream of finding extraterrestrial life that could help him survive.  
Erik was a machine.  
His logic was fact-based, he did not dream, nor did he fear death.  
Another flaw of humanity, in contrast to Erik they were mortal. 

On the video screen Weylands old, crinkly silhouette was replaced by the Shaw, that Erik had known from the other video messages.  
“Now David10, I am sure you have many questions.” 

Actually Erik had no other question but one.  
Why would Sebastian let him know one if Weyland Industries most confidential secrets.  
Weylands intentions changed nothing on their mission of saving the lost crew of the Prometheus. 

Erik didn’t believe in the tales of “the engineers” as Elizabeth Shaw had called them in one of her science documentaries, that Erik had read to pass time.  
He did not believe.  
He knew. He established a thesis. He searched for knowledge, but he did not believe.  
Faith had not helped Elizabeth Shaw to a lucky outcome of their mission, had it? 

“I herewith hopefully answer most of them. First of all-“ but Erik would never know what Shaws answers consisted of. 

A high, piercing noise broke the silence of the ship and Erik jerked into movement.  
Moira McTaggert, the brunette woman, who was going to maneuver the ship in two months, had explained every single possible alarm to him, that could happen while they were drifting through space and Erik had memorized them explicitly. 

This one was the alarm if one of the cryopods opened before they reached their destination. One shrill ringing noise for every cryopod that opened.  
Erik counted while running to the cryodeck, although his speed was twice as fast as any living human he still thought it too slow. 

When Erik had reached the cryodeck he saw the full extension of the problem. 

It had rung ten times exactly - and when he opened the door he looked into the partly sickened, partly disturbed faces of the entire crew of the Orpheus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay thanks to everyone who gave kudos so far and took time to read it :3  
> have some puking cryosleep- affected Charles in the next chapter ... oh and Erik taking care of him :D


	3. Awakening

“Fluuuuuuurk-“ Charles made the most hideous noise his mouth had ever produced in his entire life and yellowish- brown fluid ran into the bowl he had clasped in a white-knuckled grip, his hands shaking. 

The last thing he could remember was being given an injection by a slightly frantic looking Hank McCoy to make sure he didn’t move while the settings of his cryopod were being adjusted. 

Next thing he knew, he woke up covered in green liquid and his cryosleep-blurred mind realized that he was trapped inside a pot,  
couldn’t breathe, could hardly open his eyes.

In his mindless panic his fists started pounding wildly against the heavy glass closure that kept his body constricted from the much-needed air.  
After what Charles came to realize had been the most adrenaline- filled seconds of his life,  
the closure had given away above him, had swayed back without a noise and Charles body swung himself into a world of air and noise around him.

The second that Charles sat up, ran a shaking hand across his face and tried to get as much air into his burning lungs as possible, was the second that he finally started to realize the loud, shrilling sounds that seemed to be everywhere.  
On the other side of the room a door swung open and he looked into the almost horrified face of Erik, the android. 

That was the moment the nausea kicked in.

Charles felt a hand on his shoulder and turned his head up to see who had delivered the reassuring touch.  
His blue, slightly glassy eyes looked up into Eriks.  
There was sympathy on the androids face and, although Charles doubted that Erik was capable of feeling it, it was nice to see someone taking care of him.

Was that why Shaw had brought him here, he wondered, while Erik put a thick woolen blanket around his shoulders, tugged it around his chest and made his way over to Moira.  
Should Eriks job merely be to take care of the crew? Support them, take care of the ship, maybe even amuse them? Hiring a robot was definitely more expensive than a human.  
Charles knew Shaw well.  
Had it been about money, the man would have been cruel enough to hire a human to take care of the ship for two years, even if said human might have gone crazy in the enclosed space. 

There had to be a different task for Erik to fulfill.  
But did he know of it, or was it just Shaws doing?  
When Charles had signed on to the mission he had known that details would be kept from him until he was far from earth and maybe even not know the full extent of their mission until they had reached their destination. 

But not knowing something was against the rules of all scientists.  
Since he was a child he had always been eager to find out every mystery in his life, everything he didn’t know. 

That hunger for knowledge had brought him to a clash with authorities many times in his life and Charles knew that if he were to accuse Shaw of anything, he wouldn’t be able to do so with a theory developed three minutes after their awakening with a bowl of vomit between his hands and the cryosleeps drugs still in his brain. How had he even come to this –ah yes, the android.

He didn’t envy Erik, who was cleaning sprayed smelly liquid that dripped from the cryopods off the floors at the moment, which was his job. But the android didn’t really seem to mind.  
He kept humming a song that wasn’t familiar to Charles ears and worked in fast, precise, efficient moves.  
It was almost captivating to watch.

Charles took a deep breath and exhaled shakily, trying to get his eyes off of the kneeling Erik and back to his own body.  
He needed to clean himself of the already dried liquid on his arms and legs, needed to get clothes and sleep.  
But what he needed most were answers.  
Charles Xavier wouldn’t be Charles Xavier if he didn’t recognize the minor details while observing situations. 

And by observing the look on Eriks face when he had entered the room with the cryopods and observing the shrill sounds that had been around him when he awoke, Charles came to the conclusion that something just wasn’t right about their situation. 

He tried to get his refusing body into motion, flexed his arms and legs, just to check if they still obeyed the commands of his brain and then slowly slid down from his cryopod. 

Blasted body.  
Of course his legs gave away the instant his feet touched the floor and he would have hit the ground if not for Erik, who was at his side in the blink of a second, supporting Charles body with his arms.  
Pressed against Erik, the Professor was genuinely surprised.  
He didn’t know why he had expected the android to have no body warmth of his own, yet…he had.  
It was the cozy, familiar 37 degrees body heat that radiated through Eriks clothes and set a shiver across Charles slightly cool body.

Just like that Erik put a supporting hand on his back and one under his legs and sat him back on the edge of his cryopod.  
“My apologies, Charles. I know you would prefer to get into motion and possibly explore this vessel, however I am instructed to care for your safety and therefore you must remain seated until you are fully capable of walking.”

Although Charles didn’t like the fact that Erik had said:”-I am instructed to care for your safety-“, as if he wouldn’t care for humans otherwise, he didn’t move and gave Erik a firm nod and a soft smile.  
The android had improved at using his facial muscles.  
Charles noticed how the variety of his expressions had widened.  
Where before would have been a dull, emotionless stare, there were small wrinkles around his eyes that made him seem alive and they even became more evident when he smiled. 

“Erik! Get away there, we must talk immediately.” 

Charles was pulled out of his observations by a sharp snap to his right.  
Sebastian Shaw had pinched his eyes together so that they were mere slits and stared at Erik, completely ignoring Charles.

He didn’t like the way Shaw treated Erik like a disobedient little child, but at the sound of Shaws voice Eriks head snapped up and his hands abandoned their warming position at Charles hip.  
“Of course, Doctor Shaw.”

Charles still stared at Shaws back, who led Erik away from the others through a door, possibly into another room, and was gone.  
While walking, he had leaned forward and whispered something into Eriks ear.  
Bloody drama queen, he was, Charles mused and silently smiled to himself, until someone moved in front of him and he snapped out of his minds vision of Shaw on a theater stage in a pink glittering dress, a little crown on his head and a writing in his hand that said “Drama Queen”. 

It was Raven, excited and a little bouncy as ever, as always first to get up, first on her legs, first one to scream her excitement into the wide world…and the wide world usually meant Charles ears.  
Cryosleep seemed to have has no effect on her.  
She held Charles face in her hands and pressed a kiss to his forehead. 

“I can’t believe we are actually there, Charles. I wonder whether they will let us take a look out of a window or something later so we can see LV- 223. I’m so excited and I can’t believe we actually slept for two years. Hey do you think we will meet Martians or something, oh wait this isn’t Mars ahahaha anyway, I wonder how the crew of the Prometheus managed to survive for so long. It would be great to have a chat with Elizabeth Shaw on astrology… eew you stink by the way.” 

She wrinkled her nose, laughed and went off to chat with Hank McCoy, who looked just as sick as Charles still felt. Hank, slightly awkward as always, seemed to enjoy his sister light chatter and even managed a little laughter here and there, before his face became alarmingly pale again and he pulled the bowl that rested on his cryopod back into his arms and gagged.

Charles turned his head away. The shaking had finally left his legs and he wondered whether a second attempt at walking would have the same effect on them as before.  
He decided to try it, carefully stretched his legs out until they touched the floor and held onto the pod for balance.  
And it worked.  
He was standing, carefully stretching his muscles and trying one step, two steps.  
Relief flooded through him. Not being able to move his body wherever he wanted on his own was torment to someone as active as him.

He put the blanket around his shoulder on the cryopod and carefully tapped towards the door that Erik and Shaw had walked through.  
Someday, your curiosity is going to kill you, Charles.  
And yet, he pressed a button next to it and the door pulled back into the wall with a fizzling noise.  
He braced himself with one hand along the wall of the corridor that had opened up in front of him.  
White, bright lights burned down from the ceiling and stung in Charles eyes. 

There were several doors on the right side of him, each painted in the same white color and with the same oval, almost round shape.  
He put his ear to the first door, assuming that Erik and Shaw were heaving a discussion about their current situation.  
The urgency with which the Doctor had ordered his android away from Charles had only doubled his doubts as to whether their situation was the originally desired one.  
Nothing.  
He went on and skipped the second door thinking, there is no way they are in there- it’s always the third or the last door, yet he stood still when he heard Shaws hushed, angry voice coming from it.  
He understood no clear sentences as he put his ear against it, merely fragments of words.

“Must…the ship…alarm…few time…enough supplies…” Charles couldn’t get around to what Shaw was rambling about.  
Maybe there was something wrong with the ship?  
Erik spoke in a much more audible and calm voice.  
“I suggest we tell the crew, Doctor. There is no way we can afford to keep it from them. If we haven’t reached the planet in the next one or two days the will notice. Also I suggest telling Professor Xavier immediately. He is trustworthy and his file said he was good with calming people.”

Now Shaws voice went louder and Charles partly understood what he said.

“…suppose not…did you learn nothing from…Mrs Forst would be a lot better…assemble the whole crew in the auditorium. Don’t forget to put up…and Erik –“  
Charles stomach pulled together and he stumbled back when suddenly there was Shaws voice right behind the door. “- make sure to show everyone to their rooms.”

Charles stood against the first door as Shaw and Erik stepped out, turning their backs to him.

Although he felt wrong for having heard parts of their conversation, it had brought up more questions than solved and he did not feel guilty enough to press flatly against the door and hide like some spy.  
If they spotted him, Charles would simply confront them with the truth.

Just as Shaw was about to turn around and face him, Erik grabbed his arm with almost forceful strength and smiled to him.  
“There is something in the control room I would like to show you, Doctor. Please follow me this way.”

Although slightly resistant Shaw let himself be dragged towards the end of the corridor and out of Charles sight.

Charles leaned his head flat against the wall.  
He hoped the assembly would provide some good answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments anyone? :D   
> I'm getting the next chapter up next weekend.


	4. Scones and Secrets

Erik slowly washed the white paste out of his hair.  
With this he was going to look just like Lawrence.

After drying and combing his now light blond strands he took a look into the mirror.  
His kind had been designed to be visually pleasing, but the bright blond accentuated his blue eyes perfectly and made them shine. 

Although no eyes could shine the way Charles could.  
Erik had often thought about them during his first year alone on board and tried to simulate the little wrinkles around his eyes when he smiled.  
He had stood in front of his mirror for a long time, yet it had failed to look as natural.  
He was a machine after all.

He flicked out the light next to the mirror and tore his gaze off his newly dyed hair.  
Erik was pleased that his eyes had been designed blue, so that they matched those of Lawrence.  
If only his hear was a little bit longer.

A soft knock on his door caught his attention and Erik stood upright and made his way over to open it, walking in his usual casual, calm, but efficient walk that only androids could have.

“Hello my friend, I was rather hoping you could join me for some lovely old scones.”

Charles. Of course it was Charles.  
Who wouldn’t be lying inside their bed and trying to get as much sleep before the assembly as possible…Charles Xavier.  
The human wriggled an alarmingly large pack of the beige-brownish things in his right hand and, without Eriks agreement, shoved past him into the room. 

He looked around, possibly comparing the room to his own before seating himself onto one of the plushy white chairs around the little table and looking up at Erik with a questioning look.  
Erik still stood in the doorway and closed the door, still amazed by the way the door, like all doors on the ship, slid silently from the wall into its place. 

Most humans would have interpreted Eriks passive behavior as dumbstruck, yet robots could not be dumbstruck. His communication protocols had no pre-programming for a situation like this. When the guest simply invited himself in and so he had to improvise, like he had many times since the crew had awoken from cryosleep.  
“Please Erik, do seat yourself opposite me, I would like to talk to you.”

Erik followed the command- no Charles did not command, he simply asked, he requested.  
Sebastian was the commanding one.  
When he sat down, Charles leaned forward and fumbled with the huge package of scones, his finger slightly clumsy.  
Erik didn’t think he needed help until Charles leant back with a sigh and pointed at the package. 

“Erik would you mind opening them for me, please. My hands are not yet to be brought to their full use due to my waking up from cryosleep. Doctor McCoy has diagnosed my left hand to be slightly sprained.” 

The Professor gave him an apologetic smile, so Erik tried to reassure him.  
“It does not display a problem for me, Charles.”

He ripped the material open the scones had been kept in.  
They were slightly cold as he touched them.  
Although Eriks data base provided him with the necessary information about scones, he had never tasted them before.  
Curiously he took one in his hand and felt the cold, slightly crusty surface on his hands.

Charles took one for himself as well and said before taking a huge bite: “I really hope they taste good, they’ve been frozen for almost two years. You know, I made them all by myself.”

He searched for information on the durability of scones in his data storage and found some information on cookies.  
He decided the scones looked digestible enough. He couldn’t get sick of them anyway and took a huge bite.

On tasting them in his mouth and swirling his tongue around the food to memorize the new sensation, the decided that they tasted in no way like he had assumed. Their taste was rather dull with a sour note in the aftertaste. He decided that he did not like scones and was about to put the rest of it down, but then he caught Charles hopeful, expecting gaze and decided to eat it anyway.  
He wanted the human to be pleased and gain his trust. The only way he could do so was to eat his food.  
Erik knew that much, Charles was a horrible cook and knew nothing of it.

The man smiled happily and tried a bit of his own scone was well.  
His eyes rolled back into his head and he sank into the soft cushions of his chair.  
Erik was about to get up alarmed, thinking there had to be something in it that had harmed Charles, possibly killed him, but the man simply opened his eyes again and hummed.

“Hmmm, aren’t they just great. I put an extra baking ingredient into them so that they wouldn’t get foul on the long way.”  
He took another bite and chewed loudly. 

Then he leaned forward in his chair, placing his hands on his knees and looked into Eriks eyes.  
The ice blue gaze seemed to print itself into Eriks memory. He would always know in perfect detail of the allurement Charles could have. It would be stuck in his memory forever.  
“Erik, I want to thank you.”

Erik did not understand. For eating the horrible scones?  
Charles couldn’t possibly know-  
“For saving me, earlier, when you were with Shaw.”

Oh, Erik had not known Charles would value it as a saving.  
There had been no real danger.  
The reason for Erik to direct Sebastians attention away from Charles had been that he wanted to involve the Professor in the fact that they were still one month, three weeks and four days away from their destination.  
He trusted Charles Xavier, but Sebastian didn’t seem to share that. He figured that his master seeing Charles listening to their conversation would not exactly help to ensure his trust.

Erik put warmth in his smile.  
“It was no trouble, Charles.”

If possible, Charles shifted even more to the edge of his chair and his smile widened.  
“Maybe I overreacted a bit after waking up and I came here to sincerely apologize for listening to you conversation with Shaw.” 

He held his hands up in a defensive gesture.  
“But I swear, Erik, I could hardly understand a word he said. I remain completely unknowing of what is going on onboard this ship and I…I came here to request something from you Erik.”

Erik still kept his smile intact. He didn’t want Charles to know that he supposed the words that the Professor was going to say would most certainly collide with one or many of Shaws orders.  
“And what might that be?”

“The truth.” Charles voice was hushed and slightly wavering. 

“Erik, I know there is something going on onboard this ship and you and Shaw know of it. Maybe even Emma Frost. But a science experiment far away from earth is no place for Shaws power games and his hypocrisy. I need to know what is going on here. Everyone deserves to know. No matter what Shaw told you. This is my right and I am going to find out what we’re into, whether you tell me or not.”

After his little speech he leaned back and looked at Erik, expecting.

Just what Erik had thought it would be.  
Shaw had told him to tell nobody until the start of the briefing in the assembly room.

But Charles, Charles. In a way it didn’t go against Eriks agenda if he told him, although he was instructed by Shaw not to, because an even deeper instruction, forged deep into the metal of his circuits, was to respect humans rights and this was Charles right.  
Charles blue gaze met Eriks, full of concern.

“Erik, please.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next update will be at the end of September, because I will be in Prague for one week on a school trip...I promise the next update will be at least two chapters, stay cool you lovely people :D


	5. A long way to go

He lifted the last plastic chairs carefully up and carried them to the far end of them room, where he adjusted them to build line with fast, precise movements. 

Erik was able to lift weight five times as heavy as the strongest human could carry.   
There was no doubt that in combat Erik could have destroyed a human easily enough and briefly wondered why humans had designed something stronger and more intelligent than most of them and yet let him fulfill the most idle tasks.   
He saved the question on his memory drive so he could express it to Shaw later.  
After Erik had finished putting up the required settings, he informed Doctor Shaw that the mission briefing may begin and the room filled with the crew members of the Orpheus.   
Many of them looked sleep deprived and still stasis-affected, some of them eyed him suspiciously while sitting down. 

Under the weight of their mistrustful glances Erik was reminded that not all humans carried Charles open attitude towards machines like him.   
Maybe that was the reason why Erik had chosen to reveal their situation to him before the briefing.   
Erik trusted Charles, because he knew Charles trusted him.   
It was strange how the Professor had managed to fill such a great deal of his memory space in so little time.   
When Charles wanted something or there was something concerning him, he voiced it and Erik preferred this behavior towards the silent staring of the crewmembers.

He spotted Charles sister taking a seat and resting her head sleepily on a nervous young mans’ shoulder, who, as Eriks memory file told him, was called Dr. Hank McCoy, responsible for medical treatment of the crew.   
He went over and took a seat in the first row, where there were more free seats available, which raised the likelihood of Charles sitting down next to him.  
However when the Professor entered he did so with a brunette female clinging to his arm as if it was a life belt. Ms. Moira McTaggert – Captain of the ship. 

She had introduced him to the huge control desk and any other function of the ship hence Erik had concluded she was a very smart human with high intelligence.   
It was no wonder why Charles would seek out her to be in her company.   
The Professor nodded in his direction as he walked past Erik to sit two rows behind him,   
Ms. McTaggert laughing against his shoulder.   
Erik quickly picked up that the nod seemed to be a greeting between humans, one of the few human habits his memory drive didn’t prepare him for, and he quickly nodded back.  
Last of all humans Sebastian Shaw entered with his assistant Emma Frost.   
As usual “the ice lady”, as she was referred to in Eriks data base, was dressed solely in white, a contrast to the green jumpsuits the rest of the crew including Erik wore. Frost positioned herself next to the door like a graceful guard, directing her blue stare at Sebastian only.

Sebastian Shaw had a way to attract people, their attention, their money, whatever he needed from them.   
Some were able to resist him, most were drawn in.   
Once he positioned himself in front of the others, the whole room fell silent immediately.   
Even Ravens friendly babbling with the doctor stopped and she lifted her head of his shoulder for her eyes to be sucked in by Shaws calm gaze.   
He was like a magnet and the only thing Erik could do was admire his creator for his self- assurance and ability to…control peoples’ emotions. 

Dressed in a black Weyland suit, Weylands symbol was clearly visible printed in silver above his chest, but ,unlike Frost, Shaw seemed to wear it like a warning, the man seemed to enjoy the long silence. Stretching it out a little bit more, holding the crews unshared attention for a moment longer.   
Then he started to speak.  
“My dear friends and companions, I am sure now that we are all happy and rested I can begin to explain to you the full amount of the greatness of the adventure that lies before us.”   
Not a single quiver in his voice.   
Erik saved the sentence on his memory drive and reminded himself to practice it later.   
A quick look around and he saw the faces of the humans, most staring bluntly up to his creator, dull humans, fearful humans.   
Shaw was the only one who could bring a man like McCoy shiver using the words ‘happy’ and ‘rested’. 

“I believe I have met all of you before personally.”  
A quick nod over into Charles and McTaggerts direction.   
“Some of you I know better and some I would like to get to know better while we are here.” A short smile.   
“I doubt that I need to tell that this mission does not officially exist in Weylands files as all of you signed a contract to ensure your absolute silence about this mission and that any breaking of that contract will lead to hard consequences. Furthermore I need to point out that primarily this is a rescue mission however all data that will be collected on the way will belong to Weyland cooperation. Any hiding or destruction of data will be punished.” 

Shaws gaze ran through the faces briefly, searching, although Erik didn’t know what for.   
Possibly disagreement, maybe fear.   
His creator looking very pleased with himself resumed his speech, the humans watching him like silent lambs, not even moving, except for McCoy who shifted nervously in his chair.   
“Well of course as we were not able to give you any further information on this mission when we were on our beloved earth, I would now like to clear out all of your possible questions and introduce you to my very special creation-“ he thought for a moment, “-the newest robot generation, David10.” Shaw said proudly pointing at Erik.   
Suddenly there was movement among the crew.   
Almost all of their heads turned around to find Erik who assumed it would create the most of human normality to politely and confidently smile at them.   
He searched for Charles face, but it turned out the Professor was the only one not looking at him, but rather almost sadly smiling down at his shoes.   
Erik assumed if he had been human he would have been angry.   
He could perfectly understand why a human might be angered by the disrespect that Charles expressed by this, but those thoughts were washed away when Charles looked up at him with that sad smile and the almost watery eyes.   
Erik decided to ask him about his concerns after Shaws speech. 

“The David10 is one of the most special generations our company has ever produced and only a hundred have been produced and sold already.”   
Shaw fixed his eyes on Erik.   
“But what makes him so special? As an improvement to the David8 and 9 he can not only copy far more human emotions than they could ever produce, but also can he learn every language within seconds and adapt to human behavior so perfectly that he seems almost humans himself, but he is without humanities many flaws. In fact, the only thing that divides him from us humans is his inability to feel emotions. He will receive orders from all of you as long as they do not contravene mine.”

Erik realized that some humans stared at him with pity on their faces and wondered whether feelings could improve anything about his condition. He couldn’t find a logical reason why this question should be answered with a yes.  
Meanwhile Sebastian Shaw went on.  
“The goal of this mission is to find the lost ship Prometheus on LV-223 and save whoever is left to live on this planet.”  
Raven, Charles sister, raised her hand, leaning provocatively back in her chair and smiling at Sebastian who nodded in her direction to indicate that it was her turn to speak.  
Raven let the arm fall to her side.   
”Wow, I mean…the launch of the Prometheus was ten years ago so what if we have come all this way and nobody is alive anymore?”  
Shaw grinned as if he had waited for that exact question to come.   
“We are assured we will find life on the Prometheus. We have received an audio message by Dr. Elizabeth Shaw, a very important scientific crewmember, who persuaded Weyland to finance the mission, saying that there has been a disturbance and asking us to come and rescue them. That alone wouldn’t have left us with much hope, if we hadn’t received a second message about one and a half years ago, which has only been able to be decoded by our beloved Davids, saying that they are still living on LV- 223 and asking us to help them again.” 

Muttering spread across the room, low whispers in hectic voices.   
Erik had received all public available information on the Prometheus and its disappearance. It had been one of the most discussed topics of the past ten years.   
“The problem that we are facing right now is that there appears to have been a disturbance of the cry pods hence we have all been awakened two months too early from cryostasis. You can spend those month however you like and try not to damage the ship while exploring it. All of you were allowed to bring a few personal items, which Erik will carry to your rooms later.”

Shaw appeared to be done with his speech and looked around, clapping his hands together.   
“Any questions?”, He sounded like he didn’t really expect any and nobody asked, so Shaw made a dismissive gesture with his hand. 

Erik intended to ask Charles why he had looked so sadly during Shaws talk of robots, rising from his chair but as Charles walked by Emma approached David, handing him the key to the package room and when he politely nodded and she had stalked off Charles had strolled past him, eyes on the floor, not even giving Ms. McTaggert a second look. 

 

Precisely one hour, two minutes and 32 seconds passed before Erik knocked on the door to Charles room and entered carrying a huge plastic bag with Charles belongings.   
The Professor must have been sitting on his bed, the sheets were tangled.   
Now he walked over to Erik, slightly swaying on his feet, possibly still sleep deprived. 

“Oh thank you, Erik. My bag.” The smile on his face when he discovered what Erik had brought him was genuine but still not quite alright, not quite Charles.   
Erik closed the door and handed the bag to Charles, who excitedly ripped it open and started taking his belongings out.   
It was an entirely new experience seeing a human so delighted about objects.   
Erik did not understand it, but when he saw Charles almost lovingly caressing the pages of the books that he took out of the bag, he knew that they were all important to him.   
They fell into a light chatter about some of Charles favorite books, many of them about genetics, until Charles lifted a particularly huge piece out of the bag.   
A chess set.   
Huge, wooden with utterly black and white figures.   
Erik had seen androids on video tapes playing chess against one another, both equally strong and intelligent, where winning was a matter of time, not skill.   
This was different.   
Charles seemed to have noticed Eriks eagerness and asked politely:” Would you mind playing for a bit?”  
Intending for an opportunity like this to come along Erik grinned and sat down on a chair next to the table, which seemed far too small for the giant chess board. 

Erik took black.   
They started playing and Charles won.   
Erik had tried, but Charles had used a tactic that his memory could not provide.   
They played three more games that day.

It went on like that for weeks, Erik visiting Charles room and them sitting there over the chessboard, talking, laughing, Charles enjoying food and Erik, who only ate once a day, watching him.  
He still tried to find the right moment to ask why Charles had reacted so heavily to Shaws talk about the David10 generation, but he couldn’t find the right way to start an appropriate conversation until three weeks after the awakening of the crew while he was considering a move, Charles slowly leaned back and asked:  
”Do you know why I’m here?”

Erik wonderer whether the question might be intended as a joke, but Charles face was sincere, so he halted his movements and leaned back as well to make Charles more comfortable.  
“You are here because Doctor Shaw asked you to come onboard this mission. He asked you because you are one of the most renowned scientists he could get his hands on. Also you are here out of your own free will and possibly want to explore LV- 223 for science.”

Charles frowned.   
“Yes, Erik, that’s true, but that’s not WHY I’m here. Doctor Shaw chose me to fulfill a purpose that nobody else could. Like you said he was able to get his hands on me, but why a Professor for genetics? Why not Astrology or Cartography?”.   
That was a good question indeed.   
“Maybe Doctor Shaw thinks your talents will come to use in a way that we cannot imagine yet. I am sure there are many others on this ship whose purpose isn’t entirely clear to them. Maybe you should ask Doctor Shaw himself.”  
“You really don’t understand it, do you, Erik?” Charles tone was almost sharp now.   
“Shaw is far to cruel to invest billions of dollars in a project and risk his life to go aboard the ship so that he can rescue Weyland, the man whose job he can occupy while he is gone, and his crew. He would never save anyone without having a profit from it for himself.”

Did Charles even know Shaw properly?   
Did Charles know what his creator had done for Erik?   
By creating him he had lifted him up, high above all that humans could imagine, far more intelligent and strong than the best of them and blessed with programmed morals that he could not go against. Charles did not only question Shaw, he questioned Erik.  
He decided to calm the situation down.   
“Charles, do you even know Doctor Shaw?”  
To his surprise Charles mouth snapped shut and silence spread until Charles looked down murmuring:  
”Yes, unfortunately more than I would like to.”  
“Please expand on this, Charles.” Erik leaned slightly forward indicating eagerness to hear Charles next words.

“You might have noticed, but Raven is not actually my sister. I found her in our kitchen, almost starved. She tried to steal food. I told her she didn’t need to steal, that we would adopt her and provide her with everything she needed. My mother agreed. She was too drunk most times to really care whether Raven was in the house with me or not. She lost control after my father died. One time she came home, a man on her arm. Kurt Marko. He never showed any interest in me until I got into science and worked small jobs at Weyland Industries for experience. I was partly involved in the development of the first David8. The first robot who was able to fully communicate with humans, simulate emotions and learn quickly. That’s how I met Shaw. I was one of the first people in the world to own a David8. I built him myself and gave him his own name. Two years after the launch of the Prometheus the robot revolution started and-“

Erik showed surprise on his face.   
He had never even taken in the possibility that Shaw or Weyland or whoever would want to hide data from him and yet if Charles told the truth they had purposefully been keeping him from learning anything about the so-called robot revolution.   
“Charles, please tell me what the robot revolution is.”  
Charles looked baffled.   
“They…they didn’t tell you?”   
Erik searched his memory drive again.   
Nothing. Either Charles was a liar, or somebody had made a mistake…or Shaw was keeping information from him, but if yes why?   
He shook his head.

“Oh Erik-“ Charles began, sounding pitiful.”-you really didn’t know. After the official selling of the David8s began they were almost to be found in every household. Almost in every factory. Not all humans treated their robots the same and every robot had pre-programmed standards within their system that decided when something was right to do and when wrong. The badly- treated robots started rebelling against their masters. It all ended in even worse treatment for them, in public mass- destructions of robots, in robot slavery whereas they has been butlers before, in unnecessary violence and then the robot revolution started, where robots started to openly attack humans. No more Davids were produced. Humans started hating robots and soon a law was passed to let every single one of them be destroyed. Now my personal David8 and I had nothing to do with the robot riots until Sebastian Shaw revealed the fact that I was still in possession of a David to the police in exchange for his position at Weyland. Now Weyland produces a new version of robots. A safer version, without access to things that could provide critical thinking at any time. I hope you understand my feelings for Shaw. He took my David.”

Erik sat there in silence, a small tear running down his eyes and dripping on his shirt.   
A small, dark spot lost in the endless green of his suit.   
“Charles, I do believe you, but you must understand that this will not change my position to Sebastian. He is my master, my creator.”   
He tried to provoke understanding in Charles, hoping to calm him down and resume the game, but Charles gaze had changed from sad to furious. There was a fire in his eyes.

“Like I said, no critical thinking, no mind of its own. Just an empty plastic cover and wires after all.”  
Charles did not usually behave like that and Erik saw that he felt bad for what he said in his eyes, but he just got up slowly, thanked Charles for the chess game and slowly walked out.

Charles had not even told him goodbye, but Eriks mind was focusing on other things than human emotions and intended insults. He had a word to speak with his creator.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sincere apologies, I could not update for some time because school and school trips... it will be more regular in the next two weeks :D


	6. Opinions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for graphic describtion of violence and Master-Sevant themes
> 
> Also sorry for grammar mistakes or horrible layout I had to write this one on my IPod because my Computer crashed

„What exactly do you mean by that, Erik?” Shaws voice had taken on a sharp undertone.  
He should have known confronting Shaw wouldn’t be easy. He should have known better than to confront him directly with why he had never told Erik one of the most important facts of human- robot history. Erik sensed the distress in his creators face, the sharp line between his eyebrows and tried to calm the human down.  
“Doctor Shaw, I believe this happens to be a misunderstanding, however I do not understand how such information can be kept from me. I think very highly of you and expected you to reciprocate this and yet you kept crucial knowledge from me.”

Shaws cold stare didn’t waver, yet he started smiling. “How is the knowledge about the robot war crucial to you, Erik?”  
“It is crucial for I must form an opinion of myself and the world. I have been on this ship for almost two years and read countless of literature. I was built to blend in with humans becoming as much like them as possible. One thing I have learned from all the books I read is that opinions are the second most human thing in the world. I am a machine and therefore things do not matter as long as I fulfill my task. But if I should interact with humans I need opinions and I can’t get them without all the knowledge there is in the world.”  
Shaws smile widened. “You are right Erik. The logical consequence of blending in with humans is becoming like them. But do you truly want to become like them?”  
Erik turned around and saw that Shaw had pressed a button while speaking. A monitor was lowered down from the ceiling to their eye level and the lights of the control room were dimmed.  
“I’d like to show you something really interesting about those humans you want to become like.”  
Erik stared at Shaw who searched for a video clip from a database until horror started flickering across the monitor.  
The video showed scenes from a war, most certainly the robot-human war. A factory burned down. Dead people lying all over the black floor. Humans. No robots. Davids, looking all the same, in a row with guns in their hands marching towards government facilities. A crying mother pressing a child against herself, shot to death. A David killing a human that had obviously been his master, stabbing him from behind.  
The tears started dripping seemingly on their own and Erik knew he would never be able to delete the images from his memory drive.  
Shaw spoke right into his ear, walking around him as Erik proceeded to stare at the images on the monitor. “The humans were not the ones who started the rebellion, Erik. The robots did. You see, there has been a mistake in the programming of the David8 series. After a while they started having certain…human trademarks one could say. They had opinions, like you are trying to develop, see what it got them. They destroyed themselves trying to become like their masters. Sometimes, Erik, it is better to leave things as they are.”  
Erik wiped away a tear from his right eye and turned to look at Shaw, who had taken his hands and looked at him with concern in his eyes. Erik thought maybe this was what having a father was like to humans. A guide, a leader, who cared for him. And yet, could Charles have lied to him about the humans mistreating his David?  
“Erik, you must understand. You should try and act like humans, but have you ever tried to feel human emotion.”  
Erik shook his head.  
“That’s right, because you can’t. Some things are just not meant to happen, Erik and robots developing opinions of their own can lead to this.” Shaw pointed at the monitor.  
“I don’t understand, Sir. Why would your people built me as one of you if I can never truly be like humans.”  
“Erik, my dear, who said that I wanted you to be like humans. Look at them. Most of them are weak, lazy, addicts, blind consumers. They rob and kill each other for money, they commit crimes because they are controlled by their drives. You, however, are better than them. You are different, the most intelligent and strongest of them all. I made you personally for myself, Erik. Without me you would not be here and I expect you to respect that. We are more than the weak little humans Erik, we can be gods.”  
Erik had read huge amounts of books on god and religion. Humans were not supposed to think of themselves as gods. But he was no human and Shaw was his creator. 

 

“Erik, ERIK. Erik, stop!”  
Charles came running at him from behind, catching his arm and blocking his way forward. Erik tried to politely shove Charles aside and walk past him, but the Professor blocked his way and Erik was stuck.  
Yes, since the incident when Charles had called him a piece of plastic with no mind of his own, he had been avoiding him. Erik knew that his new goal (to develop no opinion of his own) would upset Charles. He did not want to upset Charles. Therefore he had been avoiding him for the past two weeks. Timing his cleaning of the crew members rooms exactly when Charles was eating, ignoring the look the human shot him when they did pass each other accidentally.  
“Erik, look, please this is childish.”  
Erik decided to walk on so that Charles would have to get out of his way, but the Professor just started walking backwards with a self- confidence and certainty that was rare to find in humans. They walked towards the main bridge with all its monitors and control panels and the huge window at the front.  
“Erik, I told you before I am sorry about what I said. I just didn’t like the thought of your beautiful mind going to waste like that. You know, obeying Shaw like a trained puppy. You are so much more than you know.”  
They had arrived in the control room. Erik placed himself in front of Charles, putting a hand on his shoulder, trying to provoke trust in him.  
He respected Charles most of all humans after Shaw, but he was a human no less and that meant that Erik would not speak to him longer than necessary.  
“Charles I believe you have forgotten where you stand here. I am Shaws robot, I carry out his directions only and I do not need to listen to a badly behaved scientist who thinks he can give me orders.”  
The defeat in Charles eyes was enough to let Erik wonder whether his words had been the right choice. He had insulted the man, no doubt. But Charles never gave up ever. "All right." Charles took a few steps back. "If that's what you want. I can't force you to make the right decision, Erik. Just make sure you do not come near me or my sister EVER again." Erik was going to apologize, he really was but just as Charles had turned his back towards him, a loud screeching sound shook the whole ship. Most crewmembers fell hard on the floor as the ship began to shake. Erik could hardly stand upright himself. His gaze found Charles, the look in the humans eyes having gone from furious to panicked. Just then Moira shouted:" It's a small meteor, we have crashed." Erik realized with shock that a part of the ceiling had gone loose and was about to land on Charles head.


	7. Heartbeat

Light were flashing all over the place.   
Erik registered a high pitched noise, possibly an alarm, sounding like it came from far away.   
He barely paid attention to it. His vision was narrowed to the huge dent in the ceiling and the piece of metal that had gone loose and dashed straight towards Charles head. 

His sensors noticed the danger the Professor found himself in immediately and released adrenaline from a place inside him.   
Later Erik ascribed his fast reaction to the adrenaline that flooded the bio -mechanical parts of his body. 

He braced his legs and jumped towards Charles from where he was standing, his body having processed the information within the fraction of a second – just in time to shield Charles with his body by leaning above him, pressing the human against his chest.  
The metal rushed towards him and collided heavily with his back. If he had been human, he would have been crushed but his skin and the steel skeleton under it were strong enough to keep his and Charles body from being damaged.   
The metal piece was repelled from him and landed with a loud “Chonk” on the bride, mere centimeters away from a control panel. 

Charles was shaking.   
Erik could feel his fast, heavy breaths against his chest.   
He didn’t care to move away from his position. He pulled up on his feet just enough so that Charles could stand up.   
The human didn’t seem to care to move away from him either.   
There was dust all over the place, Charles was keeping his eyes closed for the better and despite his advanced vision Erik couldn’t make out any of the crew members.

Just when he was about to carefully push the human away he felt it. 

Fluttering, beating, warm against his hand.   
His hand, which had accidentally found its place on Charles chest.   
His heartbeat. The only thing that physically separated Erik from humans. He could feel it pumping the life trough Charles body. It felt beautiful.   
Erik shuddered and pulled Charles tighter. The human was giving away a small sound but he did not resist.   
Erik was not sure if he could let go even if Charles did resist. In all the books that Erik had read, all the films that he had watched there was only one word to describe this fluttery lively thing in Charles chest.   
Perfection. 

The dust did clear after all but Erik refused to move from his position.  
He heard the rustling of human clothes around him, someone coughing and buried his face in Charles neck trying to blend out the world around them.  
He knew they would not be able to stand there forever. Charles would get uncomfortable. The humans around them got uncomfortable. They did. He could feel their eyes on him and dared to look up just long enough to see Ms. Frost staring at him as if he had released the metal from the ceiling. Her eyes were small and hateful.   
Erik turned his head to see Hank, who shrieked slightly away under his stare. Was he feared? Feared and loathed? Charles did not fear him, or did he?

Erik didn’t understand the humans.   
He understood their emotions mostly, but this time it didn’t occur to him why, after saving one of them, he should not be trusted.  
Then Eriks gaze fell on a black monitor. He could see his own face slightly altered, but it was still his face.   
He looked angry, his eyes narrowed and jaw clenched. He looked possessive, his one hand clawing at Charles back, while the other pressed into his chest like he wanted to feel through the skin.  
Charles slightly shifted under him.   
Erik loosened the grip on is back so that Charles could lift his face from his chest and breath properly, but he didn’t let go of him.  
Again he out his face on Charles shoulder and closed his eyes, entirely content with the world and the situation.   
“Erik.” That was Moiras voice.   
She was a very gentle woman but when giving commands her voice could become hard.   
This time it was sharp, almost angry. Erik didn’t care.   
His hand on Charles chest began to wander slightly tracing the patterns of the humans skin through his shirt.   
Charles heartbeat intensified and if Erik had been human he would have sighed. Nothing filled him with such a weird sensation of content like this.  
“Erik. Let Charles go.”  
It was definitely a command. Erik was supposed to obey commands from the others. All of them - unless they provided danger to any other crew member or Shaw himself. But he simply pretended not to hear it. There was a burning sensation inside of him, like acid burning through his body. Surely it was because he had failed to carry out a directive.   
“Erik. Now.”   
The sensation went stronger. He could still stand completely still, absorbing the pain. His face was motionless, his body almost limb.  
He could feel Charles beneath himself. Moving, shifting against him. Charles pressed his hands lightly against Eriks chest.   
Erik did not want to let go, but he knew he had to. If Charles felt uncomfortable, he had to. 

Charles blue eyes met his and he said so low only Erik could hear it and full of trust: ”Erik, let me go.”  
As soon as Eriks hand disconnected from Charles chest, his sensors went back to their normal state of processing.   
He slowly released Charles from his grip and stared into his eyes, aiming to look apologetic.   
He could no longer blend out the other humans’ awful stares at his back so he decided to run.  
“I’m sorry for the inconvenience.” He whispered to Charles. He ran fast enough for the humans not to catch up with him.   
He did not want to hear questions. 

The burning had subsided from his body and Erik expected the crewmembers to leave him alone at least for a while after this incident.   
There was a place that Erik considered his secret. Nobody ever entered the space at the back of the ship, just at the very end of it.   
There was a window, much smaller than the huge window at the front next to the control panels but it provided an excellent view nonetheless. 

Erik did not know whether any of the crewmembers actually knew it existed.   
He had discovered it within his first week of exploring the vessel and since that returned now and then to read a book or simply watch the stars pass by.   
He didn’t know what had happened with his body the moment he had felt Charles heartbeat.   
A possible explanation for it might be his own lack of a heart. Erik was built anatomically like all humans on the outside, yet on the inside he lacked all vital organs that humans had. If he could possess one vital organ of a human it might be their heart. Shaw had told him not to blend in with humans, but why then was he built exactly alike them? 

He looked at his hands, slightly wrinkly down to the last detail, except for his fingers, which had been designed with the Weyland Corporation logo on them. Erik knew that humans could be identified by their fingerprints, because each human had individual fingerprints no matter how much alike. Eriks fingerprints didn’t differentiate from any other David.   
His name did. Charles had given him his name.  
What was this new search for identity? Erik was a machine. He didn’t need identity, just like he didn’t need opinions. 

“Erik?”  
Of course Charles had followed him. Erik looked up from his hands and turned around to face Charles.

“Hello Charles. My deepest apologies if my earlier actions scared you.”  
Charles smiled dismissing the topic.   
“You saved my life. I came to thank you.”  
Erik smiled back, but he knew it would look artificial to Charles the moment he did it.   
“It was no problem for me. I was programmed to care for all humans.”

He assumed that this was not what Charles had wanted to hear.   
His protocols told him to make the human feel special in order to gain his trust but Erik didn’t want to take the protocols advice this time.   
Charles just stood there in the narrow space where the corridor ended and decided to sit down next to Erik on the hard floor.   
He did what Erik did, staring outside the window into the stars, before he resumed speaking.

“That was…” a little laugh,”…almost scary I must admit. The way you clawed to my body. Say, what is it that fascinated you so much you couldn’t let go?”  
That is what you came here for, didn’t you? For answers.   
For throwing into my face what a failure of program I am? Erik briefly considered driving Charles out of the small room.   
Expelling him, for this place was his and only his. He didn’t like the human to invade his space like that, sitting next to him. 

Erik could hear his heart beat again. Possibly this was what drug addiction was like to humans.  
He decided to ignore the human, turning his head slightly in the other direction, but Charles suddenly grabbed his hand and pressed it back against his chest.   
Erik turned his head back to face Charles. The human was nervous, almost anxious. It was an experiment to him, nothing more.   
Erik didn’t decide to speak. The words seemed to come out of his mouth just like that.

“My current theory is that I am drawn to your heartbeat because I have no such thing as a heart.”, A short break to see that Charles eyes lit up with interest.   
“Possibly even because I have read so much literature on human feelings and almost all of it was in a way connected to the heart. Maybe I seek out the ability to feel, although I do it unconsciously.”

Charles did not seem uncomfortable with Eriks hand on his chest so Erik decided to dwell on that sensation that went from his hand to his head, where his main drive lay, for a little while longer.   
They said nothing for a while staring at the stars until Charles spoke:” I didn’t mean what I said, you know.”   
Erik looked at him, indicating that he did not understand what Charles was referring to.  
“Back at the main deck when we were having…an argument. I said that you only obeyed orders and had no thoughts of your own. I know that it is not true and I know I can’t hurt you by saying that but I still want to apologize for it, so sorry.” 

Charles smiled up at him and Erik had to reciprocate it.   
Charles smile was infectious.   
“You didn’t do me any harm, Charles. I think I needed someone to tell me that I do not just exist to follow Shaws orders, that I can think on my own. Not many humans would do that for a robot Charles, but you did. You are special and I want to thank you for that.”  
Charles shifted slightly closer.  
If he intended contact that would mean that he trusted Erik. Erik wanted Charles to trust him.   
Charles looked at him as if asking for permission and then leaned his head lightly against Eriks shoulder, the androids arm still touching his chest.  
They sat there for quite a while watching the stars.

It was then that Erik realized that he had found what humans would call a true friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you like it so far? More romance stuff in the next chapter. Anyone care to comment? :D


	8. Personal Space

After the incident in the control room things were easier between Erik and Charles.  
The android couldn’t quite put a word to it, but he assumed that he had fully gained the humans trust. 

It was visible in the small, subtle movements when they stood next to each other, at the smiles they exchanged over the table when they ate together. 

It was a major part of Eriks programming to gain the trust of all humans he interacted with, however the only valuable one appeared to be Charles’.   
He further knew that it was in no way his place to put humans into different rakings of his liking. They were supposed to be equally valuable to him, yet Erik came to realize that even his perfected programming was not as flawless as Shaw had made him believe.   
Charles had given him books to read.   
Different books than the ones the Weyland corporation had provided for him. Some of them were old and it was obvious that Charles had read them numerous times.   
One time Charles handed him a small book with few pages and told him not to inform anybody that the book happened to be on the ship.   
Strictly speaking Erik was not even disobeying Shaw, he merely used the loopholes in what his master had told him.   
The book was a collection of newspaper reports on engineering, development of robots and the robot war.   
It was highly informative as the Weyland corporation had only provided him with a limited knowledge on that subject, however Erik assumed that Charles intention was not only to inform him about the general circumstances of robots development, treatment and the war.

They often spoke about films when Erik had finished his work of maintaining the ship, cleaning rooms and floors, and Erik found himself more and more often working faster so that he could converse about interesting subjects with Charles.   
On a few days they sat together in the ships media room, Charles showing Erik films that he liked for some particular reason.   
During movies the human would never stop talking. He kept telling Erik about his favorite characters and why he liked them, he explained things that happened behind the scenes and on rare occasions, knew almost everything about the actors and the crew. 

Erik had decided that he liked this friendly chatter.   
It was interesting seeing the strong emotions on Charles face, when a particularly passionate, humorous or sad moment flickered across the screen.  
On one night Charles fell asleep, his head resting on Eriks shoulder and the android was tempted to touch Charles chest through his shirt and feel his heartbeat one more time.   
His hand slowly crept up the humans’ stomach, but suddenly Charles stirred and mumbled something against Eriks neck and his hand shot back.   
He then decided to carry the human back to his quarters and lay him asleep in his bed, carefully tucking the blanket across him, trying not to wake him up in the process.   
When he stood outside the quarters, closing the door, he realized how fragile the human had felt in his arms. Weak bones, weak enough to brake easily at the slightest pressure.   
No matter how strong his mind was, Charles body could easily be broken by any intruder.   
As he had no tasks to fulfill until the lights on the ship were turned fully on again, simulating a day-night process, Erik sat in front of Charles door, just to make sure his human was safe.

The humans were becoming more and more excited because their destination merely lay two days’ travel ahead of them. Erik could detect a slight anxiety in Dr. McCoys behavior, a steady happiness in Ravens and a quiet, almost gloomy thoughtfulness in Charles.   
Erik never stopped his habit of accompanying Charles to his bedroom and then waiting all night outside until the night before the last night on the ship.  
Like every night Erik followed the Professor to his chamber and like every night Charles smiled and said good night, closing the door behind him.   
Erik then leaned against the door, looking up and down the silent corridor and sat on the ground to save his energy.   
Erik assumed that Charles usually thought the android would leave after saying good night to him.   
He could not explain why he sat there every night, waiting for Charles to wake up, making sure he was safe without telling the human about it. He just didn’t. 

And then on that particular night, not two minutes after Erik had moved into his usual position in front of his door, the door opened and a confused looking Charles stared down at him.   
He was wearing blue, neat pajamas and matching colored slippers with what appeared to be sharks’ face and teeth on them. 

Before Erik could explain himself, the Professor face turned from confusion into a knowing smile:”Ha! I knew you would be here.”   
How could Charles have possibly ….  
-“Even robots footsteps make a sound, but I never heard yours, so I thought I might go checking and there you are and what are you even doing on the floor, how long has this been going on? Are you cold? Please, do come inside my friend, although my little room is slightly untidy I’m afraid.”  
Of course Charles would not simply stop ranting on until Erik got up in one fluent move and followed Charles into his room.   
Charles had been right, his room temperature was much warmer than the cold hallway, and Erik closed the door quickly, because he could see the human shiver.  
Charles seated himself on the bed and looked at Erik, tilting his head to the side.   
“So why have you been stalking outside my room?”  
Erik briefly considered not telling Charles the truth. He was able to lie as long as it didn’t go against his orders. It did not matter to tell Charles why he sat outside of his door.  
“I was making sure the mechanism of your door worked properly.” He told Charles, keeping the muscles of his face straight, because he had never lied to a human and did not know what emotion to show.   
Charles just smiled at him. “Really Erik? The mechanism on my door? Two nights in a row? And why were you turned away from it then?”

Erik should have known that lying was not meant for robots, especially if those robots knew a Charles who knew all his programmed and improvised reactions by heart.   
Charles just kept looking at him expectantly. “I wanted to make sure you were safe.” He finally said, his vocal cords sounding as if he had not used them in a long time.   
“Why would you need to? There is no danger here on the ship.” Charles laughed.   
Erik knew that the decision was a logical failure. Of course nothing on the ship could harm Charles…and yet he would keep waiting outside of the humans’ door.  
There was a long silence in the room with Charles looking at him and after a few minutes Eriks conversational protocols told him that the human most likely regarded the situation as ‘awkward’.   
“I should leave.” Erik decided, turning around to leave Charles to himself.

He reached out to touch the door with his hand in order to open it, as he heard a rustling behind himself and halted his movements. The next moment he felt a pair of arms wrap around his chest.   
“Charles.”  
The human was pressed against him.   
Erik could feel his heartbeat through their clothing, the soft rub of Charles warm cheek against his back.   
“Don’t go, Erik.” He murmured face nuzzled against his back. Erik weighed up the possibility of losing Charles trust if he let go and walked through the door.

He saw himself conflicted as more intimate contact with humans was not strictly required of him, yet not forbidden either.   
Could Charles want to engage in the act of reproduction with him? Erik had read that human males often did so for pleasure and not reproductive purposes.   
What was Charles intention? Could Erik leave without losing the humans’ trust? Did he want to leave? What did he want? Nobody ever asked him what he wanted.   
He was a machine, he did not need to want, so he did not want. But he was supposed to imitate a human, so he might need to think human as well, especially in this conflicted moment.   
If he were human, what could he possibly want from this situation?   
He analyzed his touching- sensors’ data from where Charles arms were tightened around his chest. It tickled slightly. It was good.   
The feeling of Charles warm breath against his neck was even better.   
Erik decided that therefore Charles touching him was good. This meant that if Erik were human, he might want to touch Charles some more, possibly all night long. If Erik stayed with Charles he could be keeping him safe without needing to stare at the corridor all night long, possibly even feel his heartbeat one more time. He came to the conclusion to stay with Charles and carefully eased Charles hands away from his chest, turning around.  
“I suppose I could afford to stay the night.”

The Professor smiled and took Eriks hand leading him to the bed. The androids fingers opened the first buttons of his shirt. He did not care for sexual contact with humans, but if Charles wanted it he would provide.   
While Charles sat down on the bed, Erik went on to open the last buttons and his shirt was open. He noticed Charles staring at his chest, mouth slightly parted.  
“Erm, Erik, not that I mind you stripping but…why are you undressing?”  
Erik found himself confused.   
“Did you not want to initiate sexual contact?”   
Charles let out a small laugh and shook his head.“Oh, I merely thought you would like to stay the night…you know…rather in here than outside…erm…it would have been rude to let you stay there, while I am here in my warm bed and…what are you doing?”

That was so typical of Charles. He was the only human who would ever care whether an android was cold and uncomfortable or not.  
Erik slowly rested his hand on Charles chest and tipped his body back until Charles was spread flat out on the mattress and Erik loomed above him, pinning him down with mild pressure. Charles trusted him. He did not look confused or angry, just curious at what Erik would do next.  
What would he do next? What did he WANT to do next?  
Just lie here, next to Charles and listen to his heartbeat. Erik spread his fingers across Charles’ chest and leaned down until his head rested on the place where he could hear his pulse most loudly. Just on top of his heart.   
He could hear the humans’ breathing slow down, but he never lifted his head off Charles chest until he turned around to sleep, tucking his arms around the pillow and forming himself into a small ball.   
Erik wrapped his arms around Charles chest, just us he had seen in films, and his hand slowly crept under the humans’ shirt. He could feel him shudder as he slowly touched the place where Charles heart must be.  
A few minutes later the human had fallen asleep.  
Erik lay awake all night long, counting the small hairs on Charles neck and listening to his heartbeat.   
What once had scared him so much seemed if not reasonable at least acceptable to him.  
It was then that he realized why he had actually decided to stay with Charles. He had not done so because of his programming.   
He had made a decision because he had wanted to make it- out of his own free will. Robots did not have a free will. He did. Maybe something had gone wrong with his programming.   
A free will was not something one could learn. He had guarded Charles room, because he trusted him. He was the only human, apart from Shaw, who Erik really trusted. He was precious.   
Erik wanted to keep him safe, against anyone and everything. 

With one more day to go, the ship was getting busier and busier. Charles had suggested engaging in watching a movie for one last time, although there could not be many new ones to watch in the ships database, because it was one of the activities they engaged in the most often, apart from playing chess.   
He tried to ignore Ravens stares across the breakfast table and Hanks shy, but knowing smile.   
Alex had seen them going out of Charles room together and the news that Erik had stayed with him over night had spread quickly.   
Erik caught Ms. Frosts cold gaze and heard Raven snicker as she caught his look.  
As it turned out Eriks assumption regarding the movies had been true.   
There was none left to watch and they had already watched Charles favorite movies twice.   
The human did not look happy as they settled on the huge beige couch and flicked through the database and Erik wanted to see him smile again. Charles searched through the database and suddenly his face lit up. “There we go…haven’t seen this movie yet. It’s really good.”   
“May I know the title of the film?”  
“Lawrence of Arabia.”  
As Charles selected the movie by pressing slightly on the touchscreen, a noise sounded through the room and a writing in huge, red lettered blinked on the screen.

‘This film is property of Dr. Sebastian Shaws personal collection – please enter password to progress’.  
Charles shot Erik a glare.   
“I don’t believe this. Shaw wants to keep this beautiful movie all to himself?”

A thought rose in Eriks head.  
As Charles wanted to get up from the couch, he held him back and turned towards the touch screen.   
“I believe we may have a chance to enjoy this movie.”  
Charles first stared at him in disbelief, then grinned and sat back on the couch as Erik entered a password, the password that Shaw used on most things, into the small window provided for it.  
The password worked, but Lawrence of Arabia did not play.   
On the contrary they were able to fully view most of Shaws private video recordings that he had made for Erik during his absence in cryo-sleep, Lawrence of Arabia among other common movies and…one video of a slim female with red-brown short hair who looked into the camera quite earnestly.

“Erik…” Charles turned towards him in confusion. “What is all this?”   
He selected the video of the woman and pressed play.  
The quality of the video was fairly bad, almost too few light in the background to see the woman properly. She looked sweaty and the red streak across her forehead must have been blood.   
She looked around herself as if in panic of being followed and then began to speak:

” My name is Dr. Elizabeth Shaw, last surviving member of the crew of the Prometheus.”


End file.
